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There's only a 1 in 48,000 chance the Earth could be destroyed in 2032

By Staff, Associated Press

Posted:
10/18/2013 02:38:45 PM MDT

A meteorite contrail from February 2013 is seen over the Ural Mountains of Russia. (Yekaterina Pustynnikova/Chelyabinsk.ru/AP)

NASA says a big asteroid that whizzed by Earth last month unnoticed is probably nothing to worry about when it returns much closer in 19 years.

NASA Near-Earth Object program manager Donald Yeomans said there is a 1 in 48,000 chance that the 1,300-foot asteroid will hit Earth when it comes back on Aug. 26, 2032.

The asteroid called 2013 TV135 was discovered Oct. 8, nearly a month after it came within 4.2 million miles of Earth. Yeomans said as astronomers observe and track it better, they will likely calculate that it has no chance of hitting Earth.

Although big, the asteroid is considerably smaller than the type that caused the dinosaur extinction.

NASA posted a “reality check” about the asteroid in response to some media reports.

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